


Here We Go Again

by Nautrielle



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-12 00:12:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10477719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nautrielle/pseuds/Nautrielle
Summary: It’s not only those two idiots going around in circles through the lifetimes.





	1. The First

“Here, hold this and follow me.” She dumped the pile of clean bandages into the arms of the standoffish looking man hovering by the door.

“ _Excuse me!”_ The man spluttered, looking at her with incredulous dark eyes.

“You heard me.” Umeko said curtly. “I don’t allow idle hands in my sickroom, and you, sir, are the idlest set of hands I’ve ever seen.”

“I am _not_ a healer.” The man said in disgust, like her profession was something dirty and beneath him.

“Then it’s a good thing you won’t be doing any healing.” Umeko said tartly. “You’ll be fetching and carrying; like I’d trust an untrained imbecile like you to lay a hand on one of my patients!”

It was strangely satisfying, watching the rich shade of purple now spreading across the man’s face. Such an imposing man obviously didn’t get bossed around very often, especially not by petite women half his size with pretty pink hair.

“I don’t have all day.” She said, raising her eyebrows. “You brought your men to _me_. I assume that means you care for their continued survival, which means you should be more than willing to invest some of your own efforts into keeping them alive. Am I wrong, Indra-sama?” There was a hint of a mocking lilt in her voice as she used the honorific. This man was important, yes, but he needed to be reminded that she was not one of his followers. She had her own rules, and he needed to respect that.

He held her stare for a long time, narrowing those daunting black eyes at her like he was contemplating how much trouble it would be to cut her down and find another healer to fix his wounded men. Eventually he looked down at the bandages in his arms, a tiny slump in his shoulders.

“Tell me what you need, woman.” He said quietly.

Umeko would count that as her first victory over the man. It was not her last, much to his annoyance.


	2. The Apple Tree

Tsubaki watched from the apple tree as her home burned. The half eaten fruit in her hand slipped through her numb fingers as the first of the smoke rose up in the sky, but she herself remained frozen in horror as she watched her clan be slaughtered by invaders. She had fairly good vision, and the scene below her was unmistakable. Like the coward she was, she clung to the branches of a tree while her uncle was impaled by a sword, while her elder cousin took four shuriken to the chest. She kept watching as her mother threw a basket of medical herbs at the raiders, no other weapons close to hand as she tried desperately to shield Tsubaki’s little sister. She couldn’t look away.

Eventually, they all fell. The strangers let out a hearty cheer at the vanquishing of their (defenceless) enemies and thrust their bloody fists into the air in triumph. Tsubaki wanted to throw up, but she forced herself to stay motionless. The moment she moved was the moment she would be spotted, and right now the only reason she was still alive was that the barbarians had not yet looked up.

So Tsubaki sat as still as a statue in the apple tree, watching with eyes wide and glassy as the invaders tore her home apart looking for loot. Precious medicinal herbs were stomped underfoot as the clueless men extracted every last conventional valuable from the compound. Tsubaki watched as they carted away the sacks of rice from the storehouse, the half-cured meat from the smokehouse and the baskets of vegetables from the kitchen. Not even the chickens were overlooked, roughly stuffed into sacks and carted away.

Tsubaki also watched as they carried away her mother and aunts’ jewellery, her uncle’s beautiful katana and her elder brother’s silver knife. Like magpies, they picked over her home and pried away anything shiny to take away. They even stooped so low as to lean down and tear out her cousin Hina’s earrings straight out of her ears, not caring that they tore the dead girl’s earlobes in two.

They left. Tsubaki still didn’t move. It was like she had forgotten how. Instead she sat in the apple tree, her eyes fixed on the corpses of her family as silent tears streamed down her face. How long she stayed there she had no clue. She lost all connection to the real world, as if time itself had shattered along with the death of her family.

“Hey, are you alive?”

Tsubaki blinked, jerkily looking down to the base of the tree where a boy with wide dark eyes was staring up at her quizzingly.

She didn’t say a word.

The boy tilted his head, like she was some sort of curiosity at a travelling show. “You can come down.” He said. “We came to help.”

Tsubaki gave him a cold stare. Who was he here to help? Her family were long dead, killed hours ago and left in the dust by greedy men who would probably never be caught now.

The boy at least had the awareness to look guilty now. “One of our scouts spotted the smoke.” He said quietly. “I’m sorry we didn’t see it sooner.”

“They’re all dead… aren’t they?” Tsubaki’s voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper, and she already knew the answer to her question, but she needed it confirmed. She needed this boy to tell her what she already knew before she could even hope to process it.

“Yes.” The boy said bluntly, perhaps sensing that what she needed right now was honesty rather than kind lies. “We thought everyone was gone, but…” He looked pointedly up at her. “You’re here.”

“They didn’t look up.” Tsubaki said stiffly. “They didn’t see me at all.”

“You’ve been in the tree the whole time?” The boy’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “During the attack and everything?”

“Everything.” Tsubaki said curtly. So what if the boy believed her or not? She had been here. She watched her family die, helpless and stuck up a tree. She’d probably never be able to so much as look at another apple again for the rest of her life.

The boy whistled. “Man, they must have been really stupid not to see you.” He scoffed. “I spotted you right away, what with your hair.”

Tsubaki ignored the quip about her hair. For years she had shed tears and thrown tantrums about her bright pink locks, ashamed about the unusual colour. Every kid she had ever met had teased her about it, every adult had made a comment. For the first time in her life, Tsubaki didn’t give a damn what anybody said about her hair. She just stared blankly down at the boy, letting him know his attempt at lightening the atmosphere had fallen completely flat.

The smirk dropped off the boy’s face quickly, and he nervously ran a hand through his messy black hair. “Sorry.” He said quietly.

“My family is dead.” Tsubaki reminded him absently.

“I’m sorry about that too.” The boy said. “Yuuta-san fixed up my leg last summer after I fell off a cliff.” He named her eldest cousin, a smiling man with a gentle touch when it came to patients, which is why he tended to most of the children that required the clan’s medical services. He had gotten married last month to girl from the village just on the other side of the forest. Both of them were lying over by the well, two of the first cut down in the attack.

“What am I going to do now?” She wondered aloud. A six-year-old girl didn’t really have many options when it came to striking out on her own. Tsubaki had, of course, started learning the basics of healing like all of the children of her clan, but she was a long way from being able to earn her way in the world using her medical know-how.

“You could come with us.” The boy suggested solemnly. “Father liked your clan. I’m sure he’ll give you shelter.”

Tsubaki frowned at the boy, confused at the offer. “Who are you, anyway?”

The boy snorted. “Uchiha Takeshi.” He told her. “Who are you?”

“Sasaki Tsubaki.” She replied.

They stared at each other for a little longer, unsure of where to go from here. Finally Takeshi held his arms out, palms up.

“I’ll catch you.” He said calmly, his burning eyes staring up at her promising more than just a simple catch from the tree. “Trust me.”

Tsubaki took deep breath and let herself fall, finally allowing herself to move. True to his word, Takeshi’s strong arms caught her, bringing her safely back to earth.

“You’re safe now.” He promised her, their faces close as he set her down on shaking legs. He didn’t let her go once she was upright, keeping a hand under her elbow to help her stand. “I’ll protect you.”

He kept that promise for the rest of their lives.


	3. Alliance

In her defence, Fujiko did not _mean_ to land on their potential employer, the bastard was practically invisible standing in the shadows of the forest like that. It was hardly her fault that he was standing under the tree she jumped down from to disembark the treetop highway. As a fellow ninja, the man really ought to know better than to stand places he’s liable to get stepped on by traffic.

“I can fix that black eye, you know.” Fujiko said helpfully.

Uchiha Kazuo just glared at her. “I think you’ve done enough damage, woman.” He growled, settling himself down onto the cushions in the room he had just guided them to.

Her father’s hand on her shoulder gently reminded her where she was, and she abandoned the sharp comment that had risen to her lips in reply. Fujiko held her tongue, knowing that this grumpy man’s opinion of their group was the difference between their small clan thriving or starving to death.

How she wished the Takenaka clan didn’t need the Uchiha clan’s patronage.

Father bowed deep to Kazuo-sama and a tiny nudge to Fujiko urged her to do the same. Despite how much it rankled to grovel to this man, Fujiko complied. She’d been sent on this diplomatic mission because she was fiercely intelligent and socially bright. Her charm was a weapon that she wielded as well as her tanto, and her clan was counting on that to win them the place of an ally to the Uchiha.

Kazuo didn’t look all that impressed at their respect though, he gave a little huff of a sigh and waved for them to sit on the cushions opposite him.

“What do you have to offer the Uchiha, Atsushi-san?” Kazuo said evenly, his black eyes seemingly boring into them. “It must be something substantial for such a tiny clan to dare ask things of us.”

Oh boy, Fujiko could _smell_ the arrogance rolling off this one. He didn’t look that much older than her, no more than nineteen or twenty. Obviously he’d been neglected as a child, because no one had taught him manners. Fujiko supressed the urge to sniff disdainfully.

“I will be blunt Kazuo-sama.” Father said. “Our clan are healers, first and foremost. We are not fighters, and we do not take many contracts from civilians for such things.”

“And this matters to me… why?” Kazuo raised an eyebrow at them.

“Up until now our clan has gotten by with offering aid to anyone that might require our services, which carries certain… risks.” Father said delicately. “I’m sure you understand what kinds of danger we face by letting everyone and anyone into our halls.”

Fujiko’s fist clenched at her side. Her clan was firmly neutral in any conflict or disagreement between ninja clans. It was the only way they could treat enough patients to feed the clan. Unfortunately, their patients were not always accepting of this rule. They did their best to separate those who might try to murder each other in their sleep, but that did not always work. Three weeks ago Fujiko’s mother and sister were killed in the crossfire between two of their patients, and that had been the last straw for her father.

“I can see how that would be difficult.” Kazuo said slowly, his dark eyes flicking to Fujiko and her clenched fist.

“We have come to offer the Uchiha our full – and exclusive – support as healers and battle medics.” Father continued. “A partnership with mutual benefits.”

“Hmm…” Kazuo leaned back a little, his face utterly unreadable. “And what if the Uchiha clan is already pleased with its own healers?” Kazuo said.

“I think you will find that we are better.” The words slipped out of her mouth before Fujiko even knew what she was saying. She was usually smarter than this! What was wrong with her?!

But the damage was done, and Kazuo sharp gaze was now fixed firmly on her.

“You’re very confident.” He said lightly, as if commenting on the weather, but his eyes glittered.

Instinctively she knew she couldn’t back down here or everything was lost. It was a challenge. “I have good reason to be.” Fujiko said her tone equally light and deceptive.

That’s when his eyes narrowed. “Prove it.” He said. He was leaning forward slightly now, like he was just barely holding back from attacking her physically. She couldn’t tell whether he was annoyed or impressed with her nerve.

“On behalf of my clan, I accept your challenge.” She leaned forward to, meeting his gaze squarely, even though she knew that greater warriors than her had died instantly after making eye contact with this man.

He smirked. “Follow me.” He rose to his feet in one smooth movement, years of ninja training evident in every twitch of his muscle. For a moment, Fujiko sat frozen, wondering what she had gotten herself into this time. Then she shook off her apprehension and rose to follow him.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Her father sighed as he followed her out of the room. “You were supposed to support _me_ in these talks, not hijack things to butt heads with the head of the Uchiha.”

Fujiko scowled. “This will be the easiest way to show Kazuo-sama that our services are useful.” She argued quietly, aware that the man walking in front of them could probably hear every word of their hushed conversation. “Trust me Father, this is not me ‘butting heads’ with him.”

“Just prepare yourself for the consequences, daughter.” Father said sagely before drawing in on himself, clearly done with talking.

Fujiko steeled herself to do just that. She would pass whatever test the Uchiha placed in front of her. She would _excel_ at any test put in front of her. This was for her clan and the future of her little cousins.

Kazuo led them through the Uchiha compound, through twisting corridors and empty rooms. Fujiko wasn’t stupid. She knew that the man was probably deliberately leading them around in circles so that they couldn’t form a map of the compound while they walked. The more lost they were in this huge house, the better his advantage if they turned out to be hostile.

Finally he slid open a door and gestured them inside, watching them with unreadable eyes. Fujiko didn’t even need to have both feet over the threshold before she knew where they had been led. This was an infirmary; the scents of medical herbs and soap was unmistakable to a girl who had grown up in rooms just like this one.

The room was deserted.

Fujiko turned back to Kazuo, eyebrows raised in a silent question. Kazuo stared back at her, almost bored, and nodded to another door at the end of the room. “Your ‘challenge’ is through there.” He sneered. “Save the boy and you will have my attention.”

Entry into the room proved that Kazuo hadn’t been kidding about the challenge. Lying on a futon in the centre of the isolated room lay a boy, no older than twelve, with a face as pale as the sheets he was lying on. He was breathing shallowly, each breath laboured and stiff. His chest was covered in bandages. It took Fujiko less than a minute to diagnose the boy as having advanced septicaemia; what little blood that had been left in the boy’s body after being impaled through the chest had been poisoned by bad air. Now he was dying, despite having the original wound neatly stitched up. Most healers would have shaken their heads and washed their hands of the case, advising family to make the boy comfortable for his remaining hours.

Fujiko was not most healers.

“I need a tea kettle, plenty of water, fresh bandages, a basin and the strongest sake you have.” Fujiko said quickly, looking around the room and finding it bare of any healing instruments. They really had abandoned the boy to die, hadn’t they?

With a flare of his chakra, Kazuo brought servants running to the room and he sharply repeated her list to them. Within moments, Fujiko had everything she required, in qualities she was not quite used to working with.

“Is this Thunder Sake?” Fujiko frowned at the bottle, confused. The sake of the northern most region of the continent was said to be strong enough to fell a man with one sip, but in these parts it was worth its weight in gold. Bottles this expensive usually came out only during important ceremonies and meetings.

“You asked for the strongest we had.” Kazuo said. “Pay no mind to the cost. We will not charge you for raiding our liquor stores.”

She wanted to believe that he was being generous, but her gut told her he was being obnoxious. Her family was poor. It was the main reason they had become desperate enough to approach the Uchiha clan for a deal in the first place. The Uchiha clan was not poor. They probably had twenty bottles of this sake in their storeroom.

Fujiko squared her shoulders, put the extravagant cost of her supplies out of her mind and got to work.

Four hours later, she had gone through three kettles of boiling water, two bottles of the most expensive sake she had ever touched and more bandages than any sane person could count. It was worth it. Her patient’s colour had improved to a pale cream instead of his former paper white, his cheeks flushed slightly with improving health. His breathing was now even, and a quick examination proved that his heartbeat was strong and steady. The boy probably would not wake for a while yet, but the blood poisoning had now been flushed from his system from a combination of healing chakra and sake washes through the wound.

There was a gory mess of used bandages sitting in a bucket to the side of the bed which would have to be burned later, but the new wrappings around the boy’s chest were neat and snug. He really didn’t need them anymore; his body had been fused back together to form a layer of pink new skin over the wound. Fujiko decided to wrap his chest up again only to protect the tender new area. The boy would be clear to take the bandages off in a week, by which time his body will be more than used to its new skin.

Kazuo sat motionless as Fujiko reported this to him in a matter of fact tone, his eyes fixed firmly on the boy instead of her. He had not left the room as she and her father had worked, even as things got messy. Fujiko grudgingly admired his resolve. Many ninja, while able to inflict horrific wounds on the battle field in hot blood, could not stomach the same gory sights seen in an infirmary.

“He will live?” Kazuo asked softly. “Truly?”

“Unless someone comes in and stabs him again, he’ll be fine.” Fujiko said. “But like I said, bed rest for at least the next week is essential, or his chest might not heal fully and he’ll have breathing problems later.” Her gaze was sharp as Kazuo finally looked up to meet her eyes. “He shouldn’t be doing any fighting for a good long while after that either, no sparring of any kind for a month. After that your own medics can re-evaluate and decide if he’s up to missions again.”

Kazuo looked back to the boy on the futon, as if he couldn’t quite believe he was real. Fujiko watched, a little startled, as the stoic man reached out and took the boy’s hand, a slight tremor in his fingers.

“Thank you.” Kazuo said quietly. “For saving my little brother.” He turned to look up at Fujiko, a hint of a wry smile on his usually stoic face. “Shall we talk terms for this alliance then?”

With dawning realisation, Fujiko realised that she had stumbled into this sick room and managed to save the life of someone a lot more important than a random boy from the clan. Kazuo’s curt behaviour was now making a lot of sense; what kind of man wanted to meet with total strangers while his little brother was dying in a room not too far away?

Fujiko bowed deeply to Kazuo. “It would be a pleasure.” She said.

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea that has been buzzing around in my head for quite a while now. Naruto and Sasuke being reincarnations kind of opens things up for other characters to be reincarnations as well, which can lead to all sorts of fun ideas. This is my favourite, mostly because I like the idea of Sakura popping up in every one of Sasuke's past lives to generally be annoying and prod him into having feelings like normal people.


End file.
